While the PvP weekend showcased a bunch of the changes that will be permanently made to the competetive aspects of Guild Wars, Sorrow's Furnace focuses on co-op play and extending the story. World Designer Jess Lebow was nice enough to answer some questions about the story crafted for this expansion and some of the challenges that come from writing for a video game and in particular a multiplayer game. Read on and look for more Sorrow's Furnace info for the rest of this week.
IGNPC: So, what's the deal with Sorrow's Furnace? Where is it? What's going on there? Who's involved?
Jess Lebow: Sorrow's Furnace was an iron mine high up in the Shiverpeak Mountains. At one point, as the Deldrimor Dwarves worked their way deeper and deeper into the rock, a temple to the Great Dwarf was erected in the open cavern. The mine was abandoned several decades ago, and the temple has long since been desecrated (oh, the horror!). Recently, the Stone Summit—beastly little varmints that they are—have taken up residence in the Furnace. It's the belief of King Jalis Ironhammer that the Summit are planning something sinister, and he doesn't intend to be the last to find out what it is.
IGNPC: Can you explain a little more about the sects of the dwarves for those who might not have gotten that far yet?
Jess Lebow: Sure. The Deldrimor Dwarves are the good people who have inhabited the Shiverpeaks since the time when the gods walked on Tyria. They are simple people (and very short ones) who believe in hard work and good will toward others. The Stone Summit (also very short) however, are a xenophobic splinter group of Dwarves who have taken to dealing in the slave trade. They are cruel and ruthless, and they have no tolerance for anyone who doesn't see the world the way they do. They have even less tolerance for anyone taller than them (typical Napoleon complex). The Summit have been trying to overthrow the monarchy, effectively taking over the Dwarven empire, and turning those who oppose them into slaves.
IGNPC: Can we expect to see any new races in Sorrow's Furnace?
Jess Lebow: Yes! Inside Sorrow's Furnace, players will encounter the Dredge—a completely new race who live below the surface. They have beady little eyes, sharp fangs, and a propensity for digging. The Stone Summit have enslaved these subterranean creatures and have forced them to work the mines deep underground.
IGNPC: Can players expect some twists and surprises?
Jess Lebow: Oh, for sure. We really like twists and surprises. Sorrow's Furnace hides some of Tyria's most vile and despicable secrets. It's an oppressive environment from which only the strongest will escape. Expect to see some things you've never seen before. Expect to be caught off guard. Expect to be creeped out a little, and maybe even laugh a time or two.
IGNPC: How different is it writing for an update like this than a full game experience?
Jess Lebow: The writing for Sorrow's Furnace has been much the same as it was for the first Guild Wars release—only much shorter. The first Guild Wars release was a monumental task. There are over two hundred thousand words in the full game. If Guild Wars was a novel, then Sorrow's Furnace, in comparison, is a short story. The rapid pace precludes the development of deep emotional connections between the players and the NPCs; the conflicts are more immediate. The resolution for each storyline comes a lot more quickly, and the overall experience is a little more intense.
IGNPC: When talking to you guys last week, it was pretty clear that there's a close relationship between the writers and game designers with how new systems are implemented. Can you explain what exactly that means to how new things are added to the game? Perhaps give an example of something going into the Sorrow's Furnace update?
Jess Lebow: Guild Wars is always evolving. The story documents change daily. We try to develop game mechanics to match the plot points in the story, but oftentimes it works the other way around, as well; we create new and parallel storylines around fun gameplay. In Sorrow's Furnace, for example, players will encounter something we call Pulverizers. These are just what you would expect—giant pieces of mining equipment that can smash a player (or anything, for that matter) to smithereens. The original story documents for the Furnace didn't include any smashy stuff. But they were so much fun that we rewrote the story to include them, seamlessly working them into the rest of the environment.
IGNPC: Sorrow's Furnace seems to be mostly a separate story from the main path taken through Guild Wars. How much new stuff along the Guild Wars main story can players expect to see (without ruining the surprise for those who haven't finished the game yet of course)?
Jess Lebow: Well, in addition to expanding the lore of the Dwarves, players will also be treated to an extension of the main storyline. Finishing the missions in the game will now trigger a new series of quests that pick up where the story left off, effectively telling players what happened after the last mission—an epilogue, if you will, to the original story.
IGNPC: How do you go about setting up and writing a section of a game like this? You've written novels in the past, is it much different?
Jess Lebow: The preparation and research aspects are very much the same. At the very beginning, we put together an outline and a description of all of the main characters. These are the tools we use to build the story. The main difference is that with a novel, the author is in control of the protagonist. I get to think for him, and he does what I tell him (or rather, what I tell the readers he's doing). With Guild Wars, we made the decision early on that the players would be the focus of the story. They are the heroes, and each time someone plays through the game, they play it a little differently than the last. As a result, we have to try to anticipate what will happen. It's a little more passive. If you've ever been the game master in a pen-and-paper roleplaying game, you'll know that players are never predictable. So, instead of writing about what you KNOW will happen, you write to what you THINK will happen. It takes more time, and can be a lot more challenging.
IGNPC: Is much of this difference due to the structure of Guild Wars?
Jess Lebow: Yes, absolutely. With instanced missions, we can actually take a look at your character and determine where you are in the story. Not only can we change dialogue on the fly, not only can NPCs respond based on where you are in the game, but the whole world can be changed to better suit you and your party. You'll see a lot more of this in future releases. Once players pass a certain point in the story, entire missions (ones they've maybe even played before) will have new, unique spawns designed specifically for their party and what they have already experienced in the Guild Wars world. The story is never static, and that's due very directly to the technological difference between Guild Wars and a traditional MMO.
IGNPC: Are there any considerations that have to be taken when writing a story that will play out for a group rather than a single player?
Jess Lebow: The biggest challenge in writing a story for a group of players rather than an individual is that there is no way for us to cheat on this end. By that I mean that we can't predict where each player on a team will be when an event takes place. If we want to blow the top off of a mountain, we have to actually blow the top off the mountain. It has to look as real from the back side of the mountain as it does from the front. The second largest challenge is telling a tale to players who happen to be in different parts of the story. We don't want to give away things to players who aren't far enough along to know the story, and we don't want the experienced players to be playing in a static world. Many of the NPCs in the game will check the player's progress in the story and react accordingly, but we also have to consider how any particular piece of information will be received by any given player. I guess that's a long way of saying, yes, it is much more difficult to tell a story to a group of players than to a single player.
IGNPC: Where do you gather inspiration for story moments? Is it all purely internal or is there some outside influence?
Jess Lebow: Oh, there are lots of outside influences. I've been a gamer ever since I could read. We would play D&D on the playground at my grade school, wandering around at recess, telling each other stories of adventure and intrigue. I'm also a big movie geek, and lately I've been reading a lot of manga. I truly believe that a story is only as good as its conflict. It seems these days anywhere you turn you can find conflict. Heck, even the nightly news can be a great place to find interesting material for a new story. You just never can tell where the next source of inspiration is going to come from, so we try to keep ourselves open to new stories and new mediums.
IGNPC: What are you hoping players take away from this new bit of the Guild Wars universe?
Jess Lebow: Well, most of all I hope they say to themselves as they log off, "Dang, that was fun." If we do our jobs right, then the story becomes the backdrop for the gaming experience. If it's done right, players enter the world and become part of it, rather than experiencing it externally. In the end, we just want to provide a little adrenaline rush and a smile for our fans.